A Marvellous Set The complete Sergei Rachmaninov - sampled by ROBERT ANDERSON '... a flow of fine works ...'

This set begins with the C sharp minor prelude, presumably a piece familiar enough to readers of M&V. But it also appears later in the set under its proper title of Morceau de fantasie, Op 3 No 2, played by Rachmaninov himself. If the Second Piano Concerto is likewise not unknown, its completion signalled the composer's recovery from nervous breakdown and released a flow of fine works including the Cello Sonata, performed here by Heinrich Schiff and Elisabeth Leonskaja.By the time he launched on the second one, he had finished a piano concerto, a symphony; and his first opera, Aleko, had reached the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre...

SERGEI RACHMANINOV

DECCA RECORDS

RUSSIA